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New Left Notes March 13,1969 3
Libertad a los
Presos Politicos
Cartel a los que
reprimen al pueblo
Mexican student stickers: "Free the
political prisoners. Jail those who
repress toe people."
Institute.
Nevertheless, toe movement was
beginning to feel the weight of
repression, with leaders semi-underground, 50-60 deaths, hundreds of
wounded, thousands in jail and no real
organized movement of support from
the workers or peasants toat could divert
some of the repression.
Importance of Olympics
On top of that toe Mexican government
was getting more frantic as toe Olympics
got closer. It should be understood why
the Olympics were so important to the
government, really to toe entire Mexican
ruling class. Mexico is very dependent
on two things: foreign investments and
tourism. Foreign investments provide
access to sums of capital that cannot
be raised by the Mexican bourgeoisie
themselves. Foreign investments make
Mexican agriculture more productive
as well as providing Mexico with a
great number of relatively cheap
finished goods. This leaves Mexican
capital free for more profitable venture s
like construction and real estate. It also
provides jobs for toe growing Mexican
working class. Tourism is Mexico's
second largest industry next to oil.
Tourists come, of course, from toe U.S.,
but also from France, West Germany,
and other European countries. This not
only gives the Mexican ruling class a
fnnllnr flint It in n rant nf "wfitfrn
civilization" and provides it wito
international business contacts, but,
most important, provides it with
millions of U.S. dollars to help offset
its otherwise terrible balance of trade.
For that reason, the ruling class wants
to present a picture of affluence (i.e.
financial success), and, most important
of all, stability! The Olympics were
seen as a way of doing this. The only
problem was toat everyone in Mexico
understood this tactic and resented toe
money that was being used to lay out
the welcome mat for foreigners while
domestic needs went unmet.
The National Strike Committee called
a rally in toe Plaza of Three Cultures
for Oct. 2 to keep things going. The
Plaza, near downtown Mexico City, lies
in a workers' high-rise housing complex
and next to a vocational school. The day
of the rally, troops surrounded toe
10,000 people gathered there, and
according to the strike committee,
plainclothes agents ofthearmyorpolice,
firing from one of the buildings onto the
troops on the other side of toe plaza,
set off an hour-long massacre in which
troops fired point blank into the crowd
wito machine-guns, from helicopters
and at buildings from tanks.
Unfortunately for toe soldiers (Mexico
has a professional army of toe type
Nixon wants here, not conscripts) many
students at the school and in the
buildings had arms and many soldiers
were killed, and their commander was
wounded. The fighting continued all night
and spread through the city, though on
a small scale.
Serious Setback
The movement had suffered a serious
setback. Almost 200 people were killed
and many hundreds of others wounded
or arrested. This was the worst act of
repression since the time of Porfirio
Diaz and sent the movement into a state
of shock. All of the strike leaders were
underground and many students stayed
hidden or away from the movement
headquarters at the Polytechnic Institute.
Shortly after, the Olympics started and
schools were closed for vacations. By
the middle of November toe National
profitable land for imperialism
again—the Civil War had begun.
It ended with toe British imperialists
leaving and the US imperialists moving
in. In toe same year toat toe CP was
outlawed, 1947, US economic aid to
Greece began under the Marshall Plan.
40% of the Marshall Plan money was
used for military purposes. Although
the Marshall Plan was formally
terminated in 1962 when assistance
reached $3.5 billion, US aid to Greece
has continued. In fact, toe US has given
Greece more money relative to its
population than it has provided for any
other country with toe exception of
Vietnam. Now, toe Greek Army is
planning to send troops to Vietnam.
Greece Profitable Ground
The US is interested in Greece for
numerous reasons. Greece exemplifies
the development of American cold-war
policy and its anti-communism. Greece,
as a NATO base, is strategically
important to toe US because of its
proximity to the Soviet Union and toe
Middle East. NATO is operating its
most important European missile base
on the island of Crete and the US 6th
Fleet uses Greek ports for supply bases
and harbors. The rightist Greek army
has proven itself as toe only European
army to successfully fight a full-scale
war against toe communists (Coulambis,
Greek Political Reaction to American
and NATO Influences, 1966).
Economically, Greece is profitable
ground for American business.
According to a special advertising
supplement in the "New York Times"
(March 3, 1968), "Greece... Ideal
Country for Investors," sponsored by
the Greek government and US and Greek
business interests, toe Greek
government guarantees complete
protection for foreign capital investors,
enjoyment of tax exemptions and
assurances against the expropriation of
property. An additional factor
conveniently omitted from this
advertisement is that all trade unions
in Greece have been banned.
Until the end of last year, one of toe
companies involved was toe infamous
conglomerate Litton Industries (see
"Ramparts") whose chairman, Tex
Thornton, is a good friend of LBJ's.
Litton was paid for its expenses plus
11% by toe junta. In addition, Litton
received a fee of about 2(5 for every
dollar of private money invested in
Greece. Aside from applying "systems
analysis" to the job of staking out
investment projects in Greece's historic
Western Pelqppennesus region and on
the island of Crete, Litton tried to
recruit toe foreign capital needed to
operate the projects. The aim was to
pump $240 million into the target areas
within toe next 3 1/2 years.
Student Situation
Aristotle Onassis has now taken over
the function of attracting private capital
to Greece. Olympic Airways, owned and
operated by Onassis, has recently been
running an ad in American newspapers.
The main copy reads, "Eleven Ways to
Stop Student Unrest." The method
suggested is to send students to visit
11 places in Greece. It is ironic toat
they omitted toe islands of Yiannos and
Leros where thousands of political
prisoners are held and tortured,
including some who have been there
Ll CIA
since the Civil War (late 1940's). Some
of toe ways toe junta stops its own
student unrest is to torture and imprison
leftist students.
Other ways toe junta stops student
unrest are to limit toe student
enrollment to certain specified groups.
A loyalty statement is required—even
those who sign are rejected if the junta
deems toem politically unfit. Eliminated
from toe student population are children
of known or suspected leftist parents.
Agnew and Greek CIA
Where goeto toe corporations, there
goest toe CIA. The Greek CIA, KYP,
is totally controlled and funded by toe
US CIA. Daniel Brewster, toe head of
the State Department Greek Desk, is a
CIA agent.
These CIA connections are made
visible here in Vice President Agnew.
"The millionaire mystery man behind
Spiro Agnew" who also "swung votes
for Richard Nixon* at the Republican
Convention (Daily News, Aug. 9, 1968)
was Thomas Pappas, major contributor
to toe Republican Party and head of a
$190 million industrial complex in
Greece including Esso-Pappas, which
controls 97% of the oil in Greece.
Pappas' family in Boston controls toe
Pappas Foundation of Greece and toe
USA, a right-wing CIA conduit. One of
the directors of Esso-Pappas, who ran
the Greek Ministry of Public Order,
resigned his post to devote full time
to helping the Army men prepare toe
coup. Pappas has been a friend of
Nixon's since at least 1952 and was
Pres. Johnson's special envoy to toe
funeral of King Paul of Greece.
For over a year, some members
of NYU SDS have been working wito
Demokratia, a radical anti-junta
organization. Demokratia's primary
aim has been to inform Americans
about toe current political developments
in Greece and relajj^heir implications
a^^he
to international affairs. The Vietnamese
struggle against imperialism goes
beyond the confines of Southeast Asia.
Greece today has all the trappings of
Vietnam ten years ago. Although the
struggle of the Greek people will be
long and laborious, we must respond
to their justified demands for toeir
freedom as well as to prevent the
far-reaching consequences if toey are
defeated once more.
Demokratia has been toe only
committee to publish a monthly
newsletter, establish a Greek relief
fund for the families of political
prisoners, initiate a chapter at NYU,
and hold continuous political and
cultural programs.
On March 20-25, through toe
co-operation and support of NYU
All-Square Congress, NYU Lawyers'
Guild, NYU Demokratia, NY Regional
SDS, and the Anti-Fascist Committee
of York University, Toronto, a teach-in
on Greece will be presented.
The high point of toe teach-in will be
a talk (Tuesday, Mar. 25) on toe
liberation struggle in Greece, by Tony
Ambatielos, representative of the
Patriotic Front and a Founder of toe
Greek Seamen's Union. Mr. Ambatielos,
who has long been associated wito toe
struggle of toe Greek people to
establish democracy in Greece, has
recently been touring Europe speaking
to labor organizations, etc., trying to
create ties and means of cooperation
for toe current struggle in Greece.
For further information, contact NYU
SDS, 10 W. 4th Street. NYC. 212-598-3956
or Demokratia, 346 W 20th St, NYC,
212-929-2390.
Our struggle against imperialism
must not be parochial. In whatever way
possible, toe struggle of various peoples
for self-determination must be
supported.

Copyright belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.

Owner

The International Institute of Social History Library Collections; Brünn, Harris Watts Collection - Serials and Press Release Soldiers Movements, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam

Copyright belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.

Owner

The International Institute of Social History Library Collections; Brünn, Harris Watts Collection - Serials and Press Release Soldiers Movements, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam

Full text

New Left Notes March 13,1969 3
Libertad a los
Presos Politicos
Cartel a los que
reprimen al pueblo
Mexican student stickers: "Free the
political prisoners. Jail those who
repress toe people."
Institute.
Nevertheless, toe movement was
beginning to feel the weight of
repression, with leaders semi-underground, 50-60 deaths, hundreds of
wounded, thousands in jail and no real
organized movement of support from
the workers or peasants toat could divert
some of the repression.
Importance of Olympics
On top of that toe Mexican government
was getting more frantic as toe Olympics
got closer. It should be understood why
the Olympics were so important to the
government, really to toe entire Mexican
ruling class. Mexico is very dependent
on two things: foreign investments and
tourism. Foreign investments provide
access to sums of capital that cannot
be raised by the Mexican bourgeoisie
themselves. Foreign investments make
Mexican agriculture more productive
as well as providing Mexico with a
great number of relatively cheap
finished goods. This leaves Mexican
capital free for more profitable venture s
like construction and real estate. It also
provides jobs for toe growing Mexican
working class. Tourism is Mexico's
second largest industry next to oil.
Tourists come, of course, from toe U.S.,
but also from France, West Germany,
and other European countries. This not
only gives the Mexican ruling class a
fnnllnr flint It in n rant nf "wfitfrn
civilization" and provides it wito
international business contacts, but,
most important, provides it with
millions of U.S. dollars to help offset
its otherwise terrible balance of trade.
For that reason, the ruling class wants
to present a picture of affluence (i.e.
financial success), and, most important
of all, stability! The Olympics were
seen as a way of doing this. The only
problem was toat everyone in Mexico
understood this tactic and resented toe
money that was being used to lay out
the welcome mat for foreigners while
domestic needs went unmet.
The National Strike Committee called
a rally in toe Plaza of Three Cultures
for Oct. 2 to keep things going. The
Plaza, near downtown Mexico City, lies
in a workers' high-rise housing complex
and next to a vocational school. The day
of the rally, troops surrounded toe
10,000 people gathered there, and
according to the strike committee,
plainclothes agents ofthearmyorpolice,
firing from one of the buildings onto the
troops on the other side of toe plaza,
set off an hour-long massacre in which
troops fired point blank into the crowd
wito machine-guns, from helicopters
and at buildings from tanks.
Unfortunately for toe soldiers (Mexico
has a professional army of toe type
Nixon wants here, not conscripts) many
students at the school and in the
buildings had arms and many soldiers
were killed, and their commander was
wounded. The fighting continued all night
and spread through the city, though on
a small scale.
Serious Setback
The movement had suffered a serious
setback. Almost 200 people were killed
and many hundreds of others wounded
or arrested. This was the worst act of
repression since the time of Porfirio
Diaz and sent the movement into a state
of shock. All of the strike leaders were
underground and many students stayed
hidden or away from the movement
headquarters at the Polytechnic Institute.
Shortly after, the Olympics started and
schools were closed for vacations. By
the middle of November toe National
profitable land for imperialism
again—the Civil War had begun.
It ended with toe British imperialists
leaving and the US imperialists moving
in. In toe same year toat toe CP was
outlawed, 1947, US economic aid to
Greece began under the Marshall Plan.
40% of the Marshall Plan money was
used for military purposes. Although
the Marshall Plan was formally
terminated in 1962 when assistance
reached $3.5 billion, US aid to Greece
has continued. In fact, toe US has given
Greece more money relative to its
population than it has provided for any
other country with toe exception of
Vietnam. Now, toe Greek Army is
planning to send troops to Vietnam.
Greece Profitable Ground
The US is interested in Greece for
numerous reasons. Greece exemplifies
the development of American cold-war
policy and its anti-communism. Greece,
as a NATO base, is strategically
important to toe US because of its
proximity to the Soviet Union and toe
Middle East. NATO is operating its
most important European missile base
on the island of Crete and the US 6th
Fleet uses Greek ports for supply bases
and harbors. The rightist Greek army
has proven itself as toe only European
army to successfully fight a full-scale
war against toe communists (Coulambis,
Greek Political Reaction to American
and NATO Influences, 1966).
Economically, Greece is profitable
ground for American business.
According to a special advertising
supplement in the "New York Times"
(March 3, 1968), "Greece... Ideal
Country for Investors" sponsored by
the Greek government and US and Greek
business interests, toe Greek
government guarantees complete
protection for foreign capital investors,
enjoyment of tax exemptions and
assurances against the expropriation of
property. An additional factor
conveniently omitted from this
advertisement is that all trade unions
in Greece have been banned.
Until the end of last year, one of toe
companies involved was toe infamous
conglomerate Litton Industries (see
"Ramparts") whose chairman, Tex
Thornton, is a good friend of LBJ's.
Litton was paid for its expenses plus
11% by toe junta. In addition, Litton
received a fee of about 2(5 for every
dollar of private money invested in
Greece. Aside from applying "systems
analysis" to the job of staking out
investment projects in Greece's historic
Western Pelqppennesus region and on
the island of Crete, Litton tried to
recruit toe foreign capital needed to
operate the projects. The aim was to
pump $240 million into the target areas
within toe next 3 1/2 years.
Student Situation
Aristotle Onassis has now taken over
the function of attracting private capital
to Greece. Olympic Airways, owned and
operated by Onassis, has recently been
running an ad in American newspapers.
The main copy reads, "Eleven Ways to
Stop Student Unrest." The method
suggested is to send students to visit
11 places in Greece. It is ironic toat
they omitted toe islands of Yiannos and
Leros where thousands of political
prisoners are held and tortured,
including some who have been there
Ll CIA
since the Civil War (late 1940's). Some
of toe ways toe junta stops its own
student unrest is to torture and imprison
leftist students.
Other ways toe junta stops student
unrest are to limit toe student
enrollment to certain specified groups.
A loyalty statement is required—even
those who sign are rejected if the junta
deems toem politically unfit. Eliminated
from toe student population are children
of known or suspected leftist parents.
Agnew and Greek CIA
Where goeto toe corporations, there
goest toe CIA. The Greek CIA, KYP,
is totally controlled and funded by toe
US CIA. Daniel Brewster, toe head of
the State Department Greek Desk, is a
CIA agent.
These CIA connections are made
visible here in Vice President Agnew.
"The millionaire mystery man behind
Spiro Agnew" who also "swung votes
for Richard Nixon* at the Republican
Convention (Daily News, Aug. 9, 1968)
was Thomas Pappas, major contributor
to toe Republican Party and head of a
$190 million industrial complex in
Greece including Esso-Pappas, which
controls 97% of the oil in Greece.
Pappas' family in Boston controls toe
Pappas Foundation of Greece and toe
USA, a right-wing CIA conduit. One of
the directors of Esso-Pappas, who ran
the Greek Ministry of Public Order,
resigned his post to devote full time
to helping the Army men prepare toe
coup. Pappas has been a friend of
Nixon's since at least 1952 and was
Pres. Johnson's special envoy to toe
funeral of King Paul of Greece.
For over a year, some members
of NYU SDS have been working wito
Demokratia, a radical anti-junta
organization. Demokratia's primary
aim has been to inform Americans
about toe current political developments
in Greece and relajj^heir implications
a^^he
to international affairs. The Vietnamese
struggle against imperialism goes
beyond the confines of Southeast Asia.
Greece today has all the trappings of
Vietnam ten years ago. Although the
struggle of the Greek people will be
long and laborious, we must respond
to their justified demands for toeir
freedom as well as to prevent the
far-reaching consequences if toey are
defeated once more.
Demokratia has been toe only
committee to publish a monthly
newsletter, establish a Greek relief
fund for the families of political
prisoners, initiate a chapter at NYU,
and hold continuous political and
cultural programs.
On March 20-25, through toe
co-operation and support of NYU
All-Square Congress, NYU Lawyers'
Guild, NYU Demokratia, NY Regional
SDS, and the Anti-Fascist Committee
of York University, Toronto, a teach-in
on Greece will be presented.
The high point of toe teach-in will be
a talk (Tuesday, Mar. 25) on toe
liberation struggle in Greece, by Tony
Ambatielos, representative of the
Patriotic Front and a Founder of toe
Greek Seamen's Union. Mr. Ambatielos,
who has long been associated wito toe
struggle of toe Greek people to
establish democracy in Greece, has
recently been touring Europe speaking
to labor organizations, etc., trying to
create ties and means of cooperation
for toe current struggle in Greece.
For further information, contact NYU
SDS, 10 W. 4th Street. NYC. 212-598-3956
or Demokratia, 346 W 20th St, NYC,
212-929-2390.
Our struggle against imperialism
must not be parochial. In whatever way
possible, toe struggle of various peoples
for self-determination must be
supported.